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Manuela Maria
Manuela Maria
Participating Frequently
September 24, 2023
Question

InDesign 18.x (2023): Problems with WMF import (MathType- or Illustrator-WMF)

  • September 24, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 3709 views

All versions 18.0 to 18.5 and version 17.4.0 have a bug when importing WMF files.

Versions 17.4.1 and 17.4.2 are fine, so I have been relying on these versions for some time.

 

I create technical manuals with extensive equations (often several thousand equations per book).

For this I use MathType. I export the equations as WMF files and link them in the InDesign file.

However, the use of MathType is obviously not the problem at all.

 

The WMF error can be easily reproduced with ADOBE Illustrator:

Just export a single character as WMF file and link it several hundred times in the InDesign file (i.e. always this 1 file with only 1 character, e.g. in Times New Roman font).

If the screen display performance in InDesign is set to "High Quality", you can already see on the screen that some of these WMFs are not displayed! (See attached screenshot. Missing WMFs are marked yellow)

Then create a PDF file.

Here, too, some WMFs are not displayed, but others than were missing in the screen display.

You can repeat these attempts as often as you like.

These are "random" errors. Each time opening the same InDesign file different random WMFs are missing. Each time exporting this file to PDF some other WMFs are missing.

 

So I opened an Adobe ticket.

Adobe acknowledged the problem and postponed me from one 18 version to the next.

In the meantime we have version 18.5 and the bug is still not fixed.

So the only usable versions are 17.4.2 and 17.4.1 respectively.

 

Therefore my question to the community:

Is anyone else affected by this WMF import bug?

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    September 25, 2023

    Can you share INDD file with those randomly missing WMFs? Maybe there would be a way to locate them through scripting? 

     

      Manuela Maria
      Manuela MariaAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      September 25, 2023

      Hello Robert,
      thanks for the interest.
      We created a test file that we had already sent to Adobe Support.
      Adobe was able to reproduce the bug and wanted to fix it for version 18.2, then for 18.3, 18.4 and finally 18.5.
      With Adobe email from August is now put off to the version 2024.


      Therefore, I have been using version 17.4.2 since then, which works flawlessly with WMF files.


      In the attachment you find the test files.


      TEST InDesign 18.5 - Illustrator-WMF 27.6.indd: InDesign file version 18.5 contains 1 WMF file linked 720x. Of course, this is not a real case, but it is simple and clear for testing.


      TEST-Illustrator 27.6.ai: Illustrator file version 27.6. This file is to be exported as WMF file.
      (I wanted to include the WMF file right away, but Adobe Community doesn't allow that as an attachment).


      InDesign 18.5 - Illustrator-WMF - Screenshot.jpg: This is a screenshot from InDesign. IMPORTANT: Use "High image quality" preset. You can see that 720x the WMF file is linked. However, at the yellow marked places the character is missing.


      TEST InDesign 18.5 - Illustrator-WMF 27.6.pdf: This is the PDF file generated from InDesign. Characters are missing here as well.

       

      Each time the InDesign file is opened and each time the PDF is generated, the characters are missing in a different place. So this is a random error.

        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Legend
        September 25, 2023

        Can you upload WMF file ?

         

        You can change its extension to JPG and then attach.

         

        Manuela Maria
        Manuela MariaAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        September 25, 2023

        Hello Adobe Community,

        some additional comments to my first post:

         

        There is no alternative to using MathType-WMF for my requirements.

        The EPS format no longer works in a meaningful way. See my other answer post for this.

        Using other software to create mathematical equations is out of the question.
        My customers (publishers) require the use of MathType for this.
        The authors supply Word files with MathType equations as raw material for the books.
        Since I mainly create technical manuals, they usually contain a lot of equations.
        Currently, for example, I am working on a nearly 1,000-page physics book with more than 11,000 equations.

        Converting the WMF files into Adobe Illustrator files is also out of the question, since the equations must remain editable with MathType.
        In the case of technical books, there are many rounds of corrections as well as new editions with extensive changes again and again.

        Using other layout software instead of InDesign is also out of the question.
        Here, too, my customers are committing me to the use of InDesign.

        The only remaining solution option is therefore:
        ADOBE fixes the WMF error that has been known for a long time.
        As a short-term interim solution, InDesign 17.4.2 must be available again ready to start.

          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Robert at ID-Tasker
          Legend
          September 25, 2023

          Why you are not using EPS format? 

           

          Manuela Maria
          Manuela MariaAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          September 25, 2023

          Thanks for your comments.

          The EPS format is currently not useful for two reasons.
          1. With some symbol fonts, individual characters are occasionally displayed incorrectly when exporting to EPS format. In MathType itself, the display is correct, and there is no error message when exporting.
          2. Currently there are enormous waiting times in InDesign when placing MathType EPS and then also when turning pages. Meaningful work is no longer possible.
          Therefore, the only option is to use MathType-WMF.

          Willi Adelberger
          Community Expert
          Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          September 25, 2023

          I would not recommend to use EMF or WMF. Normally I do not recommend EPS neither, but it is better than EMF/WMF. What I would do after exporting EPS: 

          1. Open Acrobat Distiller

          2. Set it to an appropriate setting for print files. 
          3. Drag all EPS on it. 
          4. Use the converted PDF now in InDesign. 

            A
            Anonymous
            September 24, 2023

            Have you tried using another vector format, for example, SVG? Avoiding proprietary file formats by Microsoft is a good idea anyway.

            Manuela Maria
            Manuela MariaAuthor
            Participating Frequently
            September 25, 2023

            Thanks for your comments.

            MathType offers only WMF and EPS as vector-oriented export formats.

            The EPS format is not useful at the moment. See my other answer post for this.

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